Someday, When This Is All Over
by anastasiabeaverhousen14
Summary: Its the job that eventually tears Rizzoli & Isles apart.
1. Will This Ever End?

Maura stood in her kitchen, looking at all her things. Her home and life she'd built. Baby toys and blankets. An unopened bottle of wine and a six pack in her fridge to celebrate their case being over. The stack of clean baby bottles in the sink. The pictures hanging all over the house of her and Jane and little Baby Elly. And it was all being ripped apart.

What was thought to be a normal case, turned into an international investigation.

Putting Jane and Maura at the top of a list they should never, ever be on.

* * *

"Maura." Paddy's voice pleaded, "Please. Do this for me. I know you don't owe me anything, but I couldn't stand losing you. You're all I have left."

"But why can't Jane come with _me_? Or better yet, _I_ go with _her_?"

"It's better if you're split up. It'll be easier for all of you and harder for them to find either of you."

"I still don't understand why I can't just go into Witness Protection."

He sighed, "Maura, please just trust me."

* * *

One the one hand, Paddy was right. If they split up, it'd be easier for the three to slip away unnoticed. And Paddy probably had more connections, seedier connections, around the country and might have a better chance of hearing something before the FBI. But on the other hand, she didn't trust him 100%.

"Fine." she heard herself say, "But you have to promise me something."

He already knew before she had to say it, "I promise Jane and the baby will be safe." Then came a click, and the phone call was over. Maura looked up at the two large men in her entryway, still not sure if she should trust them.

And that was it. She grabbed two last things before she zipped up her bag and followed the two men her mob-boss of a father and hired, out of her home for good.

She looked back at the house, then had a thought, "Please, if you have to go through the house and disrupt things to make my cover, just don't ruin anything. Pictures, documents, things like that. If we ever get to go home, I want those memories to be intact."

The man made eye contact with her a moment, then nodded.

As she sat in the back seat of the SUV, Maura looked down at the blue baby blanket and the picture in her hands. The picture was of the three of them the day little Eleonora was born. Jane, still in her hospital gown, hair all wild with her arm around Maura, holding the baby between them. Both shared the same wide smile, faces full of joy.

Teary hazel eyes lifted to look at the man driving in the rear-view mirror, "Will I ever get them back? Will I ever get to go back" came a quiet sob

He sighed, "Someday. When this is all over."


	2. A New Life

Hazel eyes opened with a start.

That was not her ceiling.

This was not her room.

This was not any room in her Beacon Hill home.

Maura sat up and quickly remembered the events from the day before. From the weeks before.

As Maura sat up, looking around the room, memories flashed before her eyes like she was living them over again. Faces swirled around her. Voices screaming at each other.

 _"_ _Jane! It isn't that simple!" came the loud, angry voice of FBI Agent, Gabriel Dean._

 _"_ _Why the hell not? It's our case! We found the murder! We found the body! Why does the fucking FBI always get jurisdiction over us?!"_

Maura leaned heavily against the sink.

 _Maura steps forward, a hand reaching for Jane's protruding belly, "Jane, please, you need to calm down. Stress isn't good for the baby."_

"Jane." Maura breathed

 _Jane pushes the hand away and sits in the chair behind her, "Dean. Please, this is our case too. And you need us. We know Boston better than anyone in the business. We know the crime, we know the town. We can help you."_

Maura splashed water on her face and forced herself out of the dark bathroom and to the kitchen. It was all too much for now. Too much lost to think about.

The fridge was stocked with basic staples: milk, orange juice, jam, and some condiments. The freezer held a few pounds of frozen meat and some popsicles. The pantry lay bare except for a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter.

"Not even any fluff." Maura sighed.

She looked around the apartment and made a mental decision: It's time to accept the new life.

* * *

 _Name: Emily Burns_

 _Age: 36_

 _Status: Single_

 _Current Residence: Kensington, Colorado_

 _Previous Residence: San Fransisco, California_

 _Parents: Deceased_

 _Siblings: None_

The two goons, (Jeffry and Michael, she'd found out) dropped her off at her new, bare-bones-furnished apartment, in the middle of the night, with a stack of cash - with a promise of more to come each month - and a 3x5 notecard with all of the necessary information to start this new, hopefully temporary, life. Without much thought (because too much thinking would lead her to unnecessary crying, again), Maura plopped down on to the bed, clothes and all and quickly fell asleep.

Maura walked into her small condo one morning, three months later, dropping her keys into the bowl with a heavy sigh. She looked around at the place for a moment, stuck in thought. It had been three months since running away from Boston and her life, and she was finally settled into her new home.

Well, almost. _Settled_ might not be the right word, for that was the complete opposite of how her mind felt. Her father, even behind bars, somehow orchestrated this whole plan. His connections had found a small condo overlooking a small mountain town in Colorado. She'd furnished the house within the first week, though she had moved everything around about seven or eight times; never quite happy with what she had done. Now, the furniture had been in the same exact spot for two months. She'd found a grocery she frequented once a week. Found a small coffee shop that produced a decent cup of coffee, and that also carried Fair Trade coffee beans and tea. Maura had discovered every little nook and cranny in the town. Even a small, unorganized bookstore. Usually, an establishment with the word 'unorganized' in the title, would instantly turn Maura in the opposite direction. Yet Maura still found herself wandering their aisles once or twice a week to seek out some new book.

Without a job or a title, Maura had little to do, except read. And read she did. Maura had to buy a second bookshelf for all the books she'd bought.

The no-longer Medical Examiner entered her home, heading straight to the kitchen with her sacks of groceries. Maura put each item in its exact place, folded the bags and set them in the pantry, then went about opening her mail. Not much mail came to her. Mostly just the bills, the condo board newsletter and the paper. Sometimes, she'd receive an all-condos invitation to a block party of some sort, though she never went. Paddy's goons told her it was best not to make friends, or become someone of importance. It was better if she remained anonymous and quiet.

So that is what she did. She stayed home and read books, occasionally watched TV, and… wrote letters to Jane.

Letter's she'd never send.

Because she didn't know where Jane was.

And Jane didn't know where she was.

That's why the letters went into unaddressed envelopes and into a box that was stored beneath her desk. _So what_ if it was silly to actually put the letters in envelopes? So what if she'd written one almost every day since she'd moved in? She had no one else to talk to; to vent to; to listen to her.

So Maura wrote.

And wrote.

Sometimes the letters were just a few sentences.

Sometimes there were six pages.

The longest was seventeen pages.

They were what Maura would write in a diary, if she had one. Her daily activities. Something she saw that reminded her of Jane, or of Elly. But mostly they were filled with Maura's desire to once again be home, with Jane. To live the life she'd briefly had the chance to experience. The life she very much hoped would still be possible.

* * *

 _A/N First, sorry about the wait. I got caught up with work and then lost all motivation to write._

 _Second, bear with me a little longer. I'll reveal the reason to everything soon. I just want to get some of this pre-requisite stuff with Maura out of the way. I've got the next few chapters mostly written. Also, this story will mostly be from Maura's point of view. With some Jane mixed in here and there._

 _Third, I know its a short chapter, but I couldn't find anything else to say here and everything else seemed as though it needed its own chapter._

 _Fourth, I'm pretty sure Kensington, Colorado isn't a real place. I just like the name Kensington and I envisioned this taking place in a sleepy town in_ _Colorado._


	3. Why We're Apart

The room was dark as the lithe figure entered on tip toes, trying not to wake the sleeping inhabitant a few rooms away. Rain was pelting the windows as a storm settled in. Dark curls covered a shadowed face as the figure bent over a box under the TV, pulling out a DVD. Slipping in the DVD, Jane sat on the floor in front of the TV as it flickered on, shining blue onto her face. Using her highly trained cop ear one last time, Jane listened to hear if Elly was still asleep. Satisfied with the silence, she pushed play. Suddenly, Maura's face appeared on the screen, and a smile broke out on Jane's lips.

"State your name and title for the record please." came Dean's monotone voice behind the camera, causing Jane to habitually roll her eyes.

"Maura Dorthea Isles, Doctor, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

"Please recount the events of the last few months, up to yesterday."

Jane watched the blonde take in a deep breathe, preparing herself for the story.

"Four months ago, the Boston Police Department Homicide team discovered a dead body down by the bay. Like any crime scene, it was processed and the body was transported to my morgue, where I examined the body thoroughly while the detectives ran the man's prints and face through a recognition software. Standard protocol. It turned out to be a man on your FBI watch-list: a known drug dealer and distributer in Boston. When the ID popped up in our system, the FBI 'swooped in', like Jane would say, and took the case from our hands immediately. After much argument, BPD was offered a partnership on the case, including Sergeant Detective Vince Korsak, Detective Frankie Rizzoli, myself and in name only, Detective Jane Rizzoli."

"Why name only?" Dean interrupted

Maura nodded, already ready for the question, "Detective Rizzoli was five months pregnant at the time. She was not allowed field work, but helped in a more behind-the-scenes way, doing what she calls, 'grunt work'." Maura chuckled slightly

"Ok, continue."

"Days turned into months of investigation, seemingly leading us in one direction, to be duped again and at another dead end. What we didn't know, is that we were stumbling closer and closer into the crime syndicate's metaphorical 'back yard'. In a coup for us, BPD and the FBI made a series of arrests. These arrests were high ranking drug dealers. Though good for the Commonwealth that these dealers were now behind bars, it was getting worse and worse for those involved in the investigation. What we did not know, what we know now, is that we had stumbled upon an international drug ring run straight out of Mexico; the Black Snakes run by Blanco Ramo. He'd sent his top dealers, the men we arrested, to Boston, and excuse my language, but we had officially pissed him off."

"When did you find out the identity of your dealers?"

"Detective Vince Korsak sent off their profiles and fingerprints to an acquaintance of his within Interpol. Which instantly alerted many red flags and this became an international investigation." She paused a moment, shaking her head in thought. "To think, this all started with a 20 year old kid found dead by the bay."

"Dr. Isles?" Dean asked

"Yes?"

"Please continue."

"Oh, right." Maura shook her head with a smile, "As the case progressed, BPD was slowly pulled from the investigative team and eventually shut out of the investigation completely. Though we were never told why. Until January fifth of this year, when an FBI agent approached us and told us, that through chatter, the FBI had discovered an assassination plot for a group of people who were known to be investigating the case."

"And who was the FBI agent?"

Maura deadpanned and gave Dean a look that said, _Really?_ "Senior Criminalist, Agent Gabriel Dean. _You_."

"And who was on this list of targets."

"Everyone within BPD that was on the case, "Sergeant Detective Vince Korsak, Detective Frankie Rizzoli, Myself, and even Detective Jane Rizzoli."

Thunder roared outside, and a loud cry pierced through the room, causing Jane to jump. Fumbling with the remote, she paused the video and ran into her daughters room. After a few moments of calming her daughter, Elly was back to sleep and Jane returned to the living room.

What she saw, startled her. What she had not noticed as she left the room, was that she had paused the interview at the precise moment Maura was looking into the camera. It looked as though Maura was looking right at her.

She fell onto the couch, staring straight into hazel eyes. Her heart tugged at her chest, longing to be closer to the blonde woman. Sudden fear and panic shot through her. Where was Maura? Why had she disappeared? Why wouldn't Paddy talk to her?

Was she alright?

Was she safe?

Why hadn't Maura come with her?

Why was Jane alone, so far from home?

* * *

Maura looked over at the man sitting across from her at her kitchen table. His face was expressionless. Her eyes turned back to the resume and cover letter in front of her.

"University of Notre Dame." she read, "Bachelor of Science - Education. Minor in Mathematics. Magna Cum Laude. Well at least I graduated with honors." she sighed, looking over the paper. "Are any of these schools even real?" she asked, her hand gesturing to the list.

The man nodded, "Yes."

"What if a potential employer were to contact them, asking for a reference?"

"Then one of our connections on the inside will give you a glowing recommendation."

"Okay." she let the paper fall to the table, "Just _how far_ does Paddy's influence reach, really?"

The man was silent.

Maura sighed, "I have no idea how to teach." she was getting more and more frustrated as time went on.

"You used to teach dozens of interns all the time."

"Yes, _interns_. Interns with masters degrees and phd's. Fully functioning adults. Not children. I can barely interact with adults, how do you think I'm going to fare with children?"

"You better figure it out quick, because you have an interview on Friday."

"Friday?!" she yelped, gaining the attention of other patrons in the coffee shop. She blushed and lowered her voice, "You cannot be serious. That is not enough time for me to prepare. What will I say, what will I wear? What do I wear to an interview for teaching?"

"Calm down, woman. You have multiple degrees from the best universities in the country. You were at the top of your field. Surely you can handle this."

She took a shaky sip of her tea and tried to breathe through the panic attack.

"Think of it this way." he said, leaning across the table a bit, "This isn't a set future, Maura. This is just for now, to give you something to do to take your mind off of everything else that is going on. Think of it as a challenge. You like challenges, don't you?"

Maura pursed her lips, internally at war. On one hand, she was seething: how could they expect her to do something like this? On the other, she was terrified. She'd just learned to lie without breaking out into hives. How does one, who's grown up without the ability to lie, suddenly be capable of a string of lies?

"You can handle it." the man said, trying to sound hopeful, "Repeat after me: "I can handle it."

Maura sighed, but whispered to herself, "I can handle it."

* * *

 _And handle it I did, Jane._ Maura wrote. It was night time, a half glass of wine right within her reach. A fresh piece of paper was about half filled with the recounting of her story, _I went into that elementary school on the verge of a full blown panic attack and left with a grin. I impressed the pants off that principal and was hired on the spot. When I got home and thoroughly thought it through, it was really was not that hard._ Maura paused her writing, the new letter to Jane flowing straight from her brain, out of the pen to paper. She took a moment to recall the morning.

 ** _The principle, a woman a little shorter and stouter than Maura sat in a tall leather chair behind a stately, wooden desk, Maura's resume in her hands; shaking her head in awe, "You have a glowing resume, and I've spoken with many of your references and they just say you are a gem to be had."_**

 ** _Maura tried her best to smile, "I've worked hard to get to where I am today."_**

 ** _It wasn't a lie. Maura_** **had** ** _worked hard her whole life to achieve such stature, only to have it ripped from her._**

 ** _"I can safely say that you would be a wonderful pick for our little school here in Kensington." The woman put the paper down and furrowed her eyebrows in thought, "Now, usually, you'd meet with the school board before we'd consider hiring you, but we recently had a teacher just up and leave, and we're in dire need for someone. So, the job is yours, if you want it."_**

 ** _Maura just smiled and held out her hand, which the principal took with an even bigger smile._**

 ** _"I would love to take it."_**

 ** _"Perfect! When can you start?"_**

Maura shook her head and looked back down at the letter.

 _Jane, I am terrified. Beyond terrified. Petrified. I start this job in under a week and I am grossly underprepared. Thankfully, the last teacher, who left suddenly, left all of his curriculum that I can use for the rest of the year. I don't know what I would have done without it. I have just a few days to go through an entire year's worth of curriculum, and I have to learn how to relate to children. Jane. I can barely relate to my colleagues, who are my own age. Also, I can't stop thinking about the kids. What if the they hate me? What if I can't get them to listen or learn? What if the other teachers hate me? What if I'm terrible at this?_

Maura sighed, _I know I don't like sentences that start with 'what if…', but you are not here to calm me down, and I hate that._

* * *

Unbeknownst to the blonde, the brunette sat her kitchen table, hours away, doing the same thing she was.

* * *

Jane opened the leather bound journal she'd bought months before.

 _I can smell the salty ocean and my front porch is covered in sand._ She started, her the fingers of her right hand playing with the leather string that served as a bookmark.

 _That's what you get for living in California, 400 feet from the beach. Everything is covered in sand. I'm covered in sand. My shoes are always filled with sand. I find sand in my pockets, even after a day of staying inside._

 _We've been here for what? Maybe three months. Dean found me a job as a basketball coach for the summer. By the way, its summer and its hotter than snot outside. And everything I have is covered in sand; have I mentioned that already? Anyways, I'm a coach at a summer camp for the local high school. I found a nice daycare for Elly that's about five minutes from the school and ten minutes from the apartment. So she's never too far away. And the daycare has been approved by Witness Protection. So…that's a plus, I guess._

 _Tomorrow is the six month mark for being in Witness Protection. I wonder if they give out a badge or patch or something. I talked to Dean last night and he said that they're no closer to finding the bad guys than they were six months ago, hell, a year ago when this all started._

 _This is our first, somewhat long-term town. The first three months, we jumped between towns every other week until they found this place. We're on the other side of the friggin country for pete's sake. Hopefully they'll stop moving us around. I think all the moving is affecting Elly. She hates sleeping in an actual bed. Sometimes I have to put her in her carseat and drive around for awhile till she'll fall asleep._

 _Anyways, we're across the country and WITSEC seems to think that we're in the clear for now. Even Dean is pretty confident about this. The FBI hasn't gotten any intel or whatever lately._

She stopped again with a sigh. Two deep brown eyes flitted across the room to where her daughter was napping in a pack-n-play.

 _I wish Maura was here. I wish I knew where Maura was. Elly turns one next week. The daycare is planning a birthday party for her. They told me to invite family. But my family is in Boston. With no clue as to where I am. And Maura is God knows where. With this birthday, this milestone approaching, I can't stop thinking about Maura. She should be here. With me. With Elly._ We _should be planning a party, not a daycare._

A squeak brought Jane from her writing and she turned to see two wide brown eyes staring at her through the netting of the pack and play.

Jane smirked and walked over to her daughter, "Well, are you awake now?"

Elly gurgled and stuck her tongue out with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess so." Jane pulled her out and held her close, "What shall we do today, my dear? Go to the park? Or we could go to the beach. Seeing as it's in our front yard."

Elly just watched in fascination as her mother was essentially just talking to herself.

Jane slipped on her flip flops and opened the front door. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out, but there were clouds so it wasn't too hot, and there was a nice breeze.

"Let's get the stroller out and go for a walk. I could use some fresh air." Her eyes shifted to her daughter, "What do you think about that?"

 _A/N: Okay. So, referencing back to the scene with Maura and the principle. Imagine with me, if you will. I see the principal in this as the principal from Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is a cop that goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher. If you haven't watched it, please do. It's a classic._


	4. First Birthdays Are Always The Best

The room was filled with tiny humans, running, crawling, and screaming and laughing all around. Jane stood at the front of the room by the punch table, away from the other adults, sipping on a glass of the pinkest punch she'd ever seen. All the other adults/parents were on the other side of the room gathered around the cookies and cake, keeping small hands away from all the sugary treats. Jane watched her little one, brown curly hair bouncing as she toddled after another little girl. Elly had been walking for a month now, and was gaining better balance every day. Jane couldn't stop the smile on her lips from forming. Though, occasionally, it was replaced with a grimace when her mind wandered to Maura. She kept thinking, _Maura should be here._ Grimace. _Oh look, someone got her a stuffed turtle_. Smile. _I wonder if its a tortoise. Maura would know._ Grimace. _Oh look at her eat the cake. She looks so cute with it all over her face._ Smile. _Maura would have a panic attack if she was here._ Grimace.

Her train of thought was derailed by the sound of another person, "You look like you're thinking too hard."

Jane looked away from her daughter and forced a smile for Elly's daycare teacher, Claire, "Just a lot on my mind."

Claire nodded, "Feel free to not answer, but, I have to ask, is it just the two of you? Or is there a father somewhere?"

Jane sighed and looked back to her daughter. Her hair was a little lighter, thanks to Casey's genes. That was about all she'd gotten from him. Casey. He was off in some desert doing only who knows what. She hadn't seen him since she told him she was pregnant. It was over Skype. She couldn't wait till he got home to tell him, because she didn't know when he _would_ be home. He'd taken it well, and even re-offered his proposal. She'd be taken care of. She could have lived on a base and the Army would have helped out while Casey was gone. If she'd accepted, who knows where she'd be. On a base in the middle of nowhere, instead of California. Would that be any better?

"Um. He's not really in our lives. I hate to say she was an accident, but, she kinda was." Jane sipped at her drink, "So it's just us."

Claire, the teacher nodded, "No family anywhere?"

Jane thought of her family back home. Frankie had also been taken into Witness Protection. Though they were in different places. Dean told her that they'd even have an eye on Angela. Vince had declined being placed somewhere, but Dean had an FBI agent undercover as a bartender there. Tommy and Lydia had moved just outside of Boston, in a quiet suburb. He'd finally finished trade school and was a master plumber, and had started Rizzoli and Sons up again.

"No. Not really in touch with the family I have left."

Claire nodded again. "Well. I don't want to push you, but there's a single parent's group that meets here once a week for support. We have events every now and then. You're more than welcome to come." she offered with a smile

"Thanks." Jane said, offering a smile back, "I'll think about it."

* * *

Jane walked into their little beach house, arms laden with a very asleep Elly and a few stuffed animals. After depositing the baby into her bed, Jane went back out to the car to get the rest of the gifts. The leftover cake went into the fridge. The new toys were deposited into Elly's treasure chest by the TV. Jane threw a load of laundry in to the washer, opened a bottle of beer and sat down at her writing desk. Opening her journal, she started to write,

 _Well. She's officially one years old. I can't believe its been a year. I can't believe its been six months since I've been in Boston. I can't believe anything anymore._

A knock on the front door pulled Jane from her thoughts. Looking at her watch, it was only about seven. She hesitantly got up, grabbing her firearm from the desk drawer, and walked over to the door. Looking through the peep hole, her anxiety quieted down and she opened the door, "Dean. What's up?"

He had a large duffle bag over his shoulder and he put his hand on it, "Can I come in?"

Jane nodded and let him in, shutting the door after him.

"What's in the bag?"

Agent Dean put the bag on the coffee table, "Gifts for Elly. From your mother and others."

Jane smiled and opened the duffle to see a dozen or so gifts, wrapped in bright colors. "Wow." She pulled them out and started opening them. Among them were a few stuffed animals, a knitted sweater from and a tub of cookies from Angela, a softball glove from Vince, and a few books from Frankie.

"You _do_ know how many rules I'm breaking by allowing this, right?"

Jane looked up with a sympathetic smile, "Yeah. Dean, I really do appreciate it. I don't think I'd survive without your help to communicate to them."

He nodded.

Jane pulled a small teddy bear out. It had an FBI jacket and a pair of sunglasses. "Who's this from?" Jane laughed

The agent just smiled sheepishly and cleared his throat.

Jane's smile grew, "Thanks Dean."

"Yeah, well. Uh. Do you have anything you want to send home?"

Jane nodded. She grabbed the flash drive from her desk and handed it to him, "Just some pictures from today and a video of her blowing out the candles on her cake. You can watch it to make sure there's nothing revealing in it."

He nodded and took it, "You ma will have this by tomorrow."

"Thanks."

They both stood there a little awkwardly.

Dean looked at his watch, "Well, I guess I'd better…."

Jane cut him off, "You want a beer?"

Dean eyes shot up to hers.

"I could use some adult talking time. I spent the day with a bunch of babies and toddlers, and all the parents ever talk about are mortgages and diapers rashes. I could use some cop talk."

He smiled, "Sure."

They talked for quite awhile; regaling many stories of past cases while drinking up the six-pack Jane had had in her fridge for too long now.

"Hey remember that time I tackled you in the creek?" Jane laughed, taking a swig of her almost empty beer.

He chuckled, shaking his head, "Yeah. And I couldn't change for like three hours because I had to go give a report and explain how I let a suspect get away because some chick detective tackled me in a creek."

"Hey!" she laughed, "That was no 'chick' move, I tackled you like a linebacker."

Dean's phone rang and he looked at the time, "Wow, it's almost midnight." He stood slowly and stretched, "I've got to go." he sighed, "I've got a flight in a few hours."

She walked him to the door, "Listen. Thanks for staying. I had a good time."

He nodded, "No problem."

She opened the door and he stepped out, "When you gonna be back?"

He shrugged, "A few days, maybe a week. Just depends."

"Okay. I'll see ya later then."

Shutting the door, she was alone again. The house was quiet again. Looking across the room, she saw her journal was still open from hours earlier.

"Tomorrow." she mumbled. Her brain was tired, and muddled with three beers. "Another day."

* * *

 _Plus sign. That meant pregnant…right? Maur would know._

 _Plus sign._

 _Shit._

 ** _Jane sat on the toilet in her bathroom. She'd been sick every morning for a few days in a row, then would go the rest of the day with no problems. While walking through the pharmacy, getting anti-nausea pills, her eyes landed on the pregnancy tests._**

 _She's gonna kill me._

 _Ma will be ecstatic._

 _Crap. What's Maura gonna say?_

 _It was just one night. Casey was in town for_ one _night._

 _Jane walked into Maura's living room, heart pounding and palms sweaty._

* * *

 _Maura stood at the stove, a pot of water on to boil. She was already in her silk pajamas and robe. Jane sighed and took those three steps across the kitchen to the island,_

 _"Maur? Can we talk?"_

 _Maura turned with a smile, "Of course. What's on your mind?"_

 _"I have something important to say, and I want to get it all out before you say anything." Jane took a deep breath and looked in her best friend's eyes._

 _Maura just smiled warmly at the brunette. She turned when the tea pot whistled and poured two glasses. She slid the mug across the counter to her counterpart, and slid over a wooden tea box as well. She pointed to each one,_ _"This one helps with nausea, this one is loaded with antioxidants which are fantastic for cleaning out your system, and this one is good for your heart, it'll keep you strong so your body is strong for the baby."_

 _Jane's shoulders sagged, "You knew?"_

 _Maura just smiled again and picked out a bag of tea, dropping the bag into Jane's mug, "You've had nausea the past few mornings, bags under your eyes due to exhaustion, likely from the amount of stress your body is going through growing a baby, an aversion to coffee - which was the most alarming symptom. With all the symptoms, it wasn't hard to diagnose the problem. I was going to propose taking a home test by the end of the week if you hadn't already."_

 _All the stress in the detective's body suddenly evaporated._

 _"Casey?" Maura asked_

 _And there was the stress again. "Just one night. He was home a few weeks ago. He called me. It was late." she was rambling, defensively, "He left the next morning. It was a relapse. Nothing more."_

 _"Jane." she took the brunette's hands with a smile, "I'm not mad, I'm not upset. You're defending yourself like I'm going to run. I'm not. I'm here, Jane, for anything; for everything."_

 _"Maur."_

 _"No, I'm serious. If you need anything, I will be here for you…" she placed her hand on my belly, "for him or her."_

* * *

 _Groooaaannnn._

 _This house is a mess and I have no energy to do it._

 ** _Jane sat on the couch in their living room, on her back with her feet up. It had been a particularly stressful week, plus a growing human inside of her took all of her energy, and Jane finally had the day off._**

 _I don't want Maura to think I'm not pulling my weight. What's something I can do that requires the least amount of energy?_

 ** _Jane spotted the empty laundry basket by the chair and decided on her task._**

 _Laundry._

 ** _She jumped up and headed for the bedroom to grab both of their hampers and went to the laundry room. She separated each either into Maura's laundry organizer or the bag for dry cleaning. Once separated, she threw a load of darks into the washer and stopped. Jane's t-shirts and Maura's socks. She looked at the dry cleaning rack: Jane's work slacks and Maura's dresses and blouses._**

 ** _She walked out to the living room and saw her DVD's mismatched with Maura's documentaries. In their bedroom,_** **their** ** _bedroom, most of Jane's clothes were in Maura's closet, and a few days prior, a second dresser had appeared and more of Jane's clothes were added. Maura often picked up maternity clothing when she was out shopping._**

 _Have I moved in?_ ** _Jane thought,_** _Jo Friday's food dish is by the fridge, her coat closet houses my coat, there's a gun safe by the front door. Have I really moved in?_

 ** _The front door opened suddenly and in came the Doctor. Maura's hands were full with three paper bags. She set them down after a smile of greeting towards the brunette._**

 ** _"Grocery shopping?" Jane asked, following the doctor into the kitchen_**

 ** _"Yes. I noticed Jo's food was running low, so I picked up a bag. Some milk, vegetables, chicken and pasta for dinner, and a new bottle of the cocoa butter lotion. The lotion will help combat stretch marks and keep your skin healthy."_**

 ** _Maura started to put the food away, but kept speaking, "I did some shopping yesterday morning when you were at work. I got you a few new tank tops to sleep in. They're a size up, so they'll be roomy and comfortable to sleep in."_**

 _I couldn't stop the smile on my lips._

 ** _"I already washed them and put them in your dresser."_**

 _Yup, I've moved in. I don't even think she realizes it._

 ** _"I put some laundry in and separated out the dry cleaning."_** _I said with a little shake of my head, showing her that I had done something productive on my day off._

 ** _"Well, thank you Jane. I appreciate that. We can drop off the dry cleaning on our way to work tomorrow."_**

Jane woke with a start. It had been awhile since she thought about the early days of her pregnancy. And now she was wide awake, memories flashing back. She looked over at the window and saw the saw was just starting to peak over the horizon.

Dawn. A new day.

She got up out of bed and turned off her alarm before heading to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Once armed with a strong cup of liquid caffeine, Jane sat back at her journal and started up where her dreams left off.

 _It was shortly after I realized that I'd moved in that I realized how much I loved Maura; like_ really _loved her. We were lying in bed, late at night. I was around four months pregnant, and only had a small belly showing so far. But even though there wasn't much there, Maura always found a way to have her hand on my belly. Like that night. She was cuddled up with me, her legs intertwined with mine, and her hand lightly resting on my exposed stomach. This had been becoming a habit for her. Whenever we laid together, whether on the couch or in bed at night, her hand would find its way under the hem of my shirt and rest on my skin. Sometimes, I don't even think she knows she's doing it._

 _I could see myself doing this every night for the rest of my life. Maybe Maura will want to carry a kid too. Oh, we should probably get married first, before the next one._ ** _Jane smiled._** _I wonder if she'd marry me._

Jane sat back and looked out the big bay window overlooking the ocean. The sun was just was still a half circle on the horizon, and cast a pretty glow over the beach. Jane took a sip as her mind drifted to the time she told Casey about the baby.

 _"What do you think?" Jane asked, nerves on end_

 _The soldier had his hands folded, chin resting on them, while he thought. The video-feed was grainy and shook a little from the bad reception one got in the desert._

 _"Well, I guess, I'll put my offer back on the table. We could get married, and you could move onto base. The army would take care of you."_

 _"And what would you do, Casey? Let the army take care of me while you're off…what? Running around the world? Our marriage would be nothing except a contract; and a meager one at that. You don't want that Casey. And neither do I. We deserve something more than each other. We deserve something amazing. You should have the opportunity to find something amazing."_

 _"And have you found your something amazing?"_

 _Her phone suddenly vibrated and she looked down at the screen to see_ Maura Dear _on the screen. "_ Don't forget your vitamins. And dinner is at 6. See you two later, darling."

 _"I think I have, Casey. And I want you to be as happy as I am."_

 _He nodded, thinking._

 _"I'm not going to cut you out of the baby's life, Casey. I couldn't. You can be apart of their life as much as you want, or as little as you want. I know you never really wanted kids, but we'll be here if you do."_

 _"Thank you Jane, I really appreciate that."_

 _There was a loud explosion on Casey's end and the whole computer shook._

 _"Casey?"_

 _The video feed started to cut out, and his voice was coming in and out, "Sorry Jane…talk…later…Love…" and the feed went out._

 _She sighed, and shut the screen._

A quiet gurgle startled Jane from her thoughts. She turned her head towards the door.

 _Awake?_ she thought. Sometimes Elly would make that noise when she slept, sometimes when she was awake.

A louder gurgle came, along with some longer unintelligible syllables.

 _Awake_. Jane smiled.


End file.
